This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Guadalquivir
River
Guadalquivir River in Coria del Río
Name origin: from al-wad al-kabir, "great river" in Arabic
Country	Spain
Region	Andalusia
Tributaries
- left	Guadiana Menor, Guadalbullón, Guadajoz, Genil, Corbones, Guadaira
- right	Guadalimar, Jándula, Yeguas, Guadalmellato, Guadiato, Bembézar, Viar, Rivera de Huelva, Guadiamar
Cities	Córdoba, Seville
Source	Cañada de las Fuentes
- location	Cazorla Mountains, Quesada, Jaén
Mouth	Atlantic Ocean
- location	Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	36°47′N 6°21′W / 36.783°N 6.350°W / 36.783; -6.350
Length	657 km (408 mi)
Basin	56,978 km2 (21,999 sq mi)
Discharge	for Seville
- average	164.3 m3/s (5,802 cu ft/s)
Location of the Guadalquivir
Website: Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir

The Guadalquivir (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaðalkiˈβir]) is the fifth longest river in the Iberian peninsula and the second longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is 657 kilometers long and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers. It begins at Cañada de las Fuentes (village of Quesada) in the Cazorla mountain range (Jaén), passes through Córdoba and Seville and ends at the fishing village of Bonanza, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, flowing into the Gulf of Cádiz, in the Atlantic Ocean. The marshy lowlands at the river's end are known as "Las Marismas". It borders Doñana National Park reserve.

The Guadalquivir river is the only great navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable to Seville, but in Roman times it was navigable to Córdoba.

The ancient city of Tartessos was said to have been located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, although its site has not yet been found.

Name [edit]

The name comes from the Arabic al-wādi al-kabīr (الوادي الكبير), 'The Great River'. Classical Arabic Wadi is pronounced in present-day Maghreb as Oued. The Phoenicians named the river Baits, later Betis (or Baetis) from pre-Roman times to the Al-Andalus period, giving its name to the Hispania Baetica Roman province. An older Celtiberian name was Oba (gold river), leading to the assumption that etymologically Córdoba means city on the Oba (Cart-Oba), but it is actually derived from the Phoenician qorteb meaning "oil press".

Image gallery [edit]

This section looks like an image gallery. Wikipedia policy discourages galleries of random images of the article subject; please improve or remove the section accordingly, moving freely licensed images to Wikimedia Commons if not already hosted there.

• 

  Guadalquivir river, Córdoba

• 

  Guadalquivir and old Roman Bridge, Córdoba

• 

  Guadalquivir River in Coria del Río, Seville (navigable)

• 

  Guadalquivir and Quinto Centenario Bridge, Seville

• 

  Cormorants in lower Guadalquivir (Doñana National Park)

• 

  Guadalquivir river basin

• 

  A restored Islamic water wheel on the Guadalquivir, Córdoba.

See also [edit]

• List of rivers of Spain

External links [edit]

• More information from the United Nations Environmental Program.

This article about a location in Andalusia, Spain, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e